Beka's Choice
by Echoing Dreams
Summary: Everything was great before the accident that left Beka without a partner. Only then did she realize she didn't have to be a Dog. It was her dream, but another path might me better for her. This could change Beka's life forever. I don't own Beka Cooper.
1. Chapter 1

I am Beka Cooper. Dog. Terrier. Bloodhound.

I run these streets. I know every twist and turn there is to know down here. My partner Tunstall and I know all the crooks and rouges there is. People know better then to mess with us, but they never learn.

We'll go all night, rain or snow we'll chase down whoever has done something bad, and we'll get them.

I love what I do.

But I could never do it without Tunstall, he's the one who knows me, who knows how I work, and knows my tricks. We're perfect partners, and with Achoo and Pounce with us we're unstoppable.

That's why today was the worst day of my life.

Care to hear my storey? Then listen up, because you will never guess what I, Rebeka Cooper did, and what happened to me.

It was a normal night, cool but calm as Tunstall and I patrolled the streets, our eyes open and our ears alert. Achoo was sniffing the ground ahead of us, ready to go at a moments notice.

Already we'd bagged a group of kids fighting in a bar, but the night was almost half over for us.

Nothing major was happening, and we thought we would be in for a really easy night.

Boy where we wrong.

We where walking by an alley, on our way to grab some food from a stand near by when Tunstall gasped and froze.

By the time I spun around, a second arrow had already pierced his shoulder, very close to his neck, and the first was still buried in the back of his leg.

He went down.

Achoo and Pounce went after the shooter as I crouched beside my partner and friend and blew my whistle.

I tired to comfort Tunstall and keep him awake, but by the time another group of dogs showed up, his eyes where already closed, and he had passed out.

The dogs who had answered my whistle helped me carry Tunstall back to the kennel where Goodwin was waiting silently.

I sat with her, waiting in silence as the healer did all he could to help Tunstall.

Lady Sabine showed up quickly after we had sat down, and went right into to see her Mattes. A while later she returned with the healer.

"He'll survive. But the injuries won't heal like they used to." she whispered, and began to cry as I stood and hugged her.

"He's taken so many healings that now a days, they just don't work as well. If he gets anymore injuries like this I won't be able to save him. Those arrows where buried deep, they would have killed him. It's a miracle I saved him this time. He can not be injured like this again and survive." the healer explained quietly.

"Thank you. We appreciate you saving our Tunstall. We'll speak with him when he wakes and tell him what you've said." Goodwin said quietly, and pressed a coin into the healers hand.

With a quick word of thanks the healer hurried off.

For a long time I didn't understand what the healer had really been saying, but it hit me that night, as I lay in bed with Achoo and Pounce.

Tunstall couldn't afford another injury like that, he could die next time, which meant only one thing.

I had lost my only partner.

Tunstall would never be a Dog again.


	2. Chapter 2

The next few days where rough. Goodwin gave me a few days off so I could calm down and help Tunstall as much as I could.

He was not happy when we told him what the healer had said, and had tried to get up and move right away.

But the pain had been too much. It wasn't to long after that he agreed to retire.

There was a party for him when he was able to walk around again, a retirement party.

He smiled at everyone who came, but it was obvious to me that Tunstall still wanted to be a Dog. Like me, being a Dog was his life.

I returned to work the next day, and for weeks Goodwin tried and tried to find me a good partner.

But every time a new person came around, they would leave soon after. It was impossible. I just couldn't get along with any of them.

Three weeks after Tunstall's retirement party and seven partners later I went to the Dancing Dove after work.

Rosto, Aniki and Kora had been there for me from the beginning, and they knew the hard time I was going through right now.

They where great friends, truthful, honest friends who I trusted with me life.

It was that night at the Dancing Dove, where the idea came into my head.

I refused it right away of course, but it kept coming back, and the more I thought about it, the more I realised how much I would like it.

For another week the same idea bugged me. I finally spoke to Pounce about it, and after thinking about it for a long time, he had replied that he thought it would work, and maybe it would be best.

Another few days went by as I considered Pounce's input, until finally I made my decision.

Putting on normal city clothes, folding my Dog uniform over my arm and grabbing my baton, I took Achoo and Pounce and went to the kennel early in the day.

Day Watch had already gone out by the time I arrived, but Goodwin was still sitting at her desk.

I approached her slowly, taking a deep breath as I realised what I was about to do.

Goodwin looked up at me and smiled. "Hello Beka, what can I do for you?" she asked.

Shaking slightly and feeling like I might cry, I stepped forward, placed my Dog uniform on her desk and but my baton on top of it, then stepped back.

Goodwin starred at the pile for a moment, then looked back at me.

"Beka? What is this? What's going on?" she asked me.

Still shaking I took another step back. "I'm quitting. I'm quitting being a Dog." I whispered.

Goodwin's eyebrows raised and she gazed at me in surprise. "What? Beka why? You love being a Dog! It's what you are!" she said.

I shook my head. "No. Not anymore. I'm quitting. I've only ever been able to work with two people. And with working the desk and Tunstall retired I have no one to work with. It's best this way. I'm sorry." I said.

And then the hardest part of my decision came as I looked down at Achoo.

"Achoo stay. You're a sent hound, and you belong to the Dogs. Not me. Be good." I said quietly, kissed the top of Achoo's head and hurried away.

For the rest of that day I simply lay on my bed and cried.

I cried my heart out as Pounce purred and tried to comfort me as best he could.

I was no longer following my dream, the Terrier, the Bloodhound, Fishpuppy. I was no longer any of those things. I wasn't even a Dog anymore.

But the most amazing part about my decision was not leaving the Dogs, but what I planned to do now.


	3. Chapter 3

The next morning, after I had calmed myself down and gotten lots of sleep I dressed and carried Pounce across the street to the Dancing Dove.

Rouges where everywhere like always. The noise inside was incredible as musicians played and people talked.

But I had grown used to the noise of the Dancing Dove long ago, for I spent lots of time here.

Aniki and Kora where up by Rosto's throne. With Pounce at my feet and my head held high I walked forward to stand before his throne.

Spotting me Rosto grinned in welcome, but he quickly because surprised as I knelt before him and bowed my head.

"Your majesty. I've come to ask to join your court. The court of rouges." I said quietly.

Looking up I found looks of shock on all three of their faces, and I realised that the Dancing Dove had become almost silent as people listened.

"You are a Dog are you not?" Rosto finally asked trying to act formal.

I shook my head. "Not anymore. I turned in my uniform and baton yesterday. I am no longer a Dog." I replied.

The expression on his face told me that this was one bit of information that Rosto, for once, didn't know. "Well, then why do you wish to join the rouges?" he asked.

I took a deep breath and rose from my bow. "I wish to still work on the streets, but I also want to help the rouge. I will not steal or kill anyone unless they try to kill me or the court first. I want to be with people I can trust. But I also want to represent the good part of the rouges, for I know you are not all bad." I explained, speaking in a strong voice as I met Rosto's eyes.

He thought for a long moment, silently gazing at me. I could tell Aniki and Kora wanted to speak up or approach me, but couldn't just yet.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Rosto nodded.

"Then we welcome you Beka Cooper to the court of the rouges. I believe you are right, we do need someone to represent our good side. You are a fighter, and a smart one at that, so we will welcome you into our ranks as one of us." he said.

Cheers went up and Aniki and Kora rushed to hug me. "Your one of us now!" Kora cried happily.

That night my heart healed. Being a rouge was actually something I enjoyed. Now that I was one of them, all of the rouges where much more open to me, smiling and telling me their stories.

Only Rosto kept back, watching silently from his throne.

Later on that same day I approached him, bowing my head respectfully.

"Are you mad at me Rosto?" I asked quietly, looking up and meeting his eyes.

"Not at all Beka, in truth I'm overjoyed to finally have you here." he replied with a smile.

And it was in that moment that I realised something else.

I loved Rosto.

All this time when he'd loved me I'd ignored it because I was a dog and it was not allowed.

But now I'm a rouge. I don't have to worry about it anymore, and with that gone I realised how much I really loved him.

I gazed at him and smiled, and he must of seen it in my eyes because he stood and hugged me.

"Finally." he whispered.

Smiling and with sparkling eyes I put my arms around him and hugged him back. "Finally." I replied.

And so, that is my story.

That's right, I, Beka Cooper, am a rouge.

After I joined the court thing went great for me.

At the kennel Achoo lost her love for tracking and stopped working for anyone. Knowing the reason why, Goodwin brought her before they could sell her to someone else and gave her too me, claiming I was the only one the dog would work for.

It was true, Achoo lives with Pounce and I again, and she's happy.

My life as a rouge was enjoyable. I got to spend time with my friends and help keep the streets safe too.

Many years later Rosto and I where married, and the court of the rouges had grown and people had begun to respect that the court wasn't all bad.

This is my life now.

I am Beka Cooper. Rouge.


End file.
